Jamais Vu
by HPROTG1995
Summary: When Hiccup is injured one day after training, Astrid and Toothless have to help him recover more than his health...but how can you help someone who cant remember why they need it in the first place? Set between Riders of Berk and HTTYD2. Renamed from Deja Vu. HiccupxAstrid
1. Chapter 1

**So this takes place after riders of Berk but before HTTYD2.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own HTTYD or any of its characters**

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Hiccup landed with a soft thud in the academy with the others not far behind. They jumped off their dragons somewhat disgruntled after a day of traversing Dragon Island without their dragons so that they didn't become too dependent on them. Hiccup never failed to reminded them that there was every possibility that they could be separated from their dragons for one reason or another in unknown or possibly hostile territory, and help may not arrive for some time.

"Remind me again why we couldn't just go over the stuff here and why we had to spend the whole day over at Dragon Island" Snotlout called from on top of Hookfang "I mean, there's plenty of forest around Berk that would've been fine for 'survival skills'".

"Because, Snotlout, you'd just ran back to the village to sneak food instead of staying where we were training" Hiccup replied, refilling the water for the rest of the dragons.

"Hiccups right, it's too tempting to fall back on what you know" Astrid added, "Dragon Island was perfect because, either way, you were forced to use your own skills."

"Hey, get off me!" Ruffnut shouted.

"You're on me!"

"Am not"

"Are too"

"Am not"

"Guys!"

"What?"

"Knock it off!" yelled Astrid.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut immediately untangled themselves and, still muttering nonsense insults to each other, began making their way back to the village. They didn't make it out of the gate however, before a shoving contest broke out again and both twins flew off to settle things.

"Well at least they can't hurt too many people out in the forest," Hiccup sighed, when would they ever get along?

Anyway, I'm leaving," said Snotlout as he steered his dragon to the entrance as well "Hookfang and I are going to do some actually worthwhile stuff now so, bye be!"

"At least snotface is gone," Astrid muttered to Hiccup and both began collecting their things together to return back to the village, "Coming Fishlegs?"

"Yeah, Meatlug just needs a bit more rest, see you guys tomorrow." He smiled from where his beloved Gronckle lay dozing in the corner of the arena.

"OK, see you later!" said Hiccup. "C'mon bud, lets go."

Both he and Toothless followed Astrid and Stormfly who were heading toward the village. Landing near Gobber's shop, Astrid talked to Hiccup about ideas on new training exercises for the other riders, each more dangerous than the last. Hiccup began tinkering in the shop as she rattled on, listening to but ultimately dismissing every idea she came up with. Far too many ended with the possible loss of a limb or several. Searching the shop for the bit of metal he saw the other day, Astrid noticed his inattention and asked what he was building.

"Uh, just something I thought could help with my leg," He said looking under tables and in cabinets, "I thought the bit of metal I needed was around here somewhere but- aha!" He had spotted it on the top shelf, across the room and he moved and placed a stool under it so that he could reach it.

"Should you be doing that Hiccup?" Astrid asked, "that stool doesn't look too stable, maybe I can reach it."

"No I'm fine I've got it" he reached a bit further and-

_Crash_

Hiccup toppled over and the whole shelf came crashing down on top of him. Large pieces of twisted metal clanging all over the shop floor and Astrid ran over to help him up, Toothless Knocking over more metal as he came bounding in to see if his rider was alright.

Unfortunately one of the larger pieces of metal must have knocked him unconscious and left a large bump on his forehead. Astrid yelled for Gobber to help her, hoping he wasn't too far away, but it was Stoick that heard the noise and came inquiring about it.

"Astrid? What are you doing here?" he paused as he noticed his son lying on the floor, leaning down to pick him up he asked "what happened?"

"He was just trying to reach something on the shelf and fell, do you think he's aright?"

"It doesn't look too bad" he said looking at Hiccups head, "but I think Gothi should take a look at it all the same, go get Gobber for me will you?"

Astrid ran off to go get him as Stick headed for Gothi's house on top of Mead Hall, Toothless hot on his heels.

Calling Stormfly over she flew around and found Gobber helping with what looked like a broken cartwheel.

"There you go, Mulch, good as new!" he said as he gave the wheel a final tap with his hammer.

"Thank you very much Gobber, I was beginning to worry that I'd have to carry all the hay myself" Mulch put the last few bales of hay on the cart just as Astrid and Stormfly landed.

"Gobber! Hiccups been injured, Stoick needs you at Gothi's now

"What happened Astrid?" Gobber climbed on the back of Stormfly and Astrid took off again heading towards Gothi's house.

She briefly explained what had happened back in the shop.

"I keep tellin' 'im he gonna get himself hurt if he keeps tryin' to climb the shelves like that" He said as they approached Gothi's house where Toothless was waiting out the front.

He turned as they landed, clearly fretting about the health of his friend.

"Don't worry Toothless, he'll be OK, Stormfly will keep you company" and with that, Astrid gave him a pat on the head and followed Gobber inside.

Upon entering the ramshackle hut, she noticed Stoick standing off to the side as Gothi examined Hiccups head, slowly rubbing in areas and keeping her mouth in a thin line.

Stoick looked up as he heard her approach and a hint of relief fell over his face as he saw Gobber.

"Any change?" Gobber asked.

"Not as far as I can tell," Stoick replied as he stepped closer towards Gothi and his son.

"I'm guessin' you want me to translate?" said Gobber stepping closer to the old lady huddled over Hiccup

"If you don't mind"

Gothi turned to the pair and began scratching on the floor with her stick. Astrid waited back near the door, not wanting to intrude but still waiting anxiously to hear if Hiccup was fine.

"'He has some head tuna and it will take a few rays for him to rake', well that doesn't sound too bad" Gobber said trying to read Gothi's writing. When he was greeted with raised eyebrows, he double-checked what Gothi said, "Oh, sorry, I meant 'he has some head-trauma and it will take a few days for him to wake', that sounds better."

"So he'll be fine?" Astrid asked.

"I imagine with some rest, he'll be as good as new, is that right Gothi?" Stoick asked. Gothi nodded. "Well then, lets get him home"

As they exited the hut, Stoick carrying Hiccup again, Toothless ran up to him.

"He's going to be fine boy, he just needs some rest and he'll be as good as new." Stoick then climbed on Toothless' back and the two of them flew down to their house.

"D'you mind giving me a ride down there?" Gobber asked Astrid.

"Uh, sure" she said as she mounted Stormfly. Her and Gobber flew down towards the shop; she wanted to see how Hiccup was with her own eyes. She knew he was alive and fine, but she couldn't erase the image her mind was creating of him and the longer she thought of it, the worse his injuries became in her mind. She had to at least make sure he was OK with her own eyes.

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**thanks for reading! i hope you liked it, please give me feedback, i love it :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**here's another chapter, thanks so much for all the great feedback! keep it coming :) Enjoy!**

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Several days passed and Hiccup was still unconscious. Astrid visited every day and whenever Stoick went into his room, Toothless was sitting at the end of the bed, staring at his best friend. Most of the time, he wouldn't move but every now and then, Stoick managed to get him to eat a fish or two. Astrid seemed to ease Toothless' anxiety.

"Hey there boy, you miss him don't you?" Astrid stroked Toothless' head absentmindedly "me too."

It had been almost three days since his accident and while he wasn't getting any worse, Hiccup had not yet shown any signs of waking up soon. Gobber and Stoick assured everyone that nothing was going wrong and that there was no need to worry.

Fishlegs and Astrid were still determined to "What are we doing here?" Tuffnut asked as he and Ruffnut arrived at the Academy "I mean, what's the point if Hiccups not here? Isn't he the dragon expert?"

"He's not the only expert, we can still go over Dragons and keep training with Astrid and me while he isn't here" Fishlegs explained.

"So why didn't Astrid even come?" Snotlout asked from his saddle.

"Because she's helping Stoick," replied Fishlegs.

"Plus you can't make her do anything she doesn't want to do" Ruffnut said giving her brother a shove.

"Not without getting beat up at least"

"Yeah!" both twins banged their helmets together, which then caused them to become entangled and they shouted as they wrestled on the ground.

"Oi! Get off!"

"You Get off!"

"I can't because of you!"

"Oh really?"

"Yeah"

"Seriously you two? You cant go five minutes without fighting" Fishlegs said, wanting to break up the fight but not prepared to physically stand between them.

Well that's what happens when we're stuck in cramped spaces for long periods of time" Tuffnut said as he finally managed to detangle his horns from Ruffnuts'.

"We've been here half an hour."

"Yeah, and that's a long time for us"

"Well, not that this hasn't been fun, but I'm leaving" Snotlout turned Hookfang around and took off into the sky.

"Wait! Snotlout! We need to go over new additions to the Book of Dragons!" Fishlegs yelled after him.

"Well there was kind of a chance we were going to stay" Ruffnut began.

"But since you've said that" added Tuffnut.

"We've got a lot of stuff to do."

"And by 'do' we mean blow up!"

"Hey, Barf get over here!"

"You too Belch."

Their Zippleback ran over and almost immediately, they were flying away, leaving Fishlegs standing in the Academy, Meatlug itching her ear near the wall.

"Come on girl, let's go." Meatlug grunted as she flew over to Fishlegs and they flew off to a place on the Island to spend the day.

Back in the village, Stoick was talking with Gobber in his shop as he fixed the shelf, which had fallen on Hiccup.

"…And then I had to deal with a pair of men who'd gotten into an argument over who's sheep it was" Stoick said, exasperated, "you know, I just want one day to myself, one day or even an afternoon to be able to sort out that dragon. I know Astrid's been keepin' him company, but he's still restless."

"Well, I don't think there's much you can do about that Stoick," Gobber said as he hammered the last nail into the wall, " That dragon's not going to do anything until Hiccup wakes up, the most you can do is just make sure he eats and hope Hiccup wakes up soon."

"I know, I just wish there was something I could _do_." Stoick waved his hands in exasperation and stood up.

"Like I've said, you can't do anything until-"

"Until Hiccup wakes up I know Gobber, you've said"

"I'm just saying" Gobber put up his hands in defense "it's best you find something to do while you wait to keep busy otherwise it'll drive you mad, you're not to most patient Viking ever you know"

Stoick walked back to his house to check on his son. When he walked into the room, Toothless barely acknowledged the chiefs presence and continued to stare sadly at the still form in the bed.

Come on boy, time to eat" Toothless simply groaned in denial. "He's not going anywhere, and you know your hungry

As if in agreement, a loud grumble was heard from deep within Toothless' stomach, reiterating what Stoick said. After a few seconds, Toothless finally moved towards the stairs and Stoick lead him over to his bowl and placed some fish in front of him. Toothless stared at the fish for a few seconds before slowly digging in.

Later that afternoon, Astrid made her way over to the chief's house for her daily visit to Hiccup.

"Hello Astrid" Stoick said as he answered the door.

"Hello Sir, I'm just here to see Hiccup" Astrid said as she stepped inside the threshold.

"I would never have guessed," he said with a chuckle "up you go then."

"Thank you Sir."

She walked up the stairs and saw Toothless asleep on his stone bed across from Hiccups own wooden one. She sat next to the sleeping dragon and patted his head, accidentally startling him.

"Woah, hey! It's OK, I'm sorry Toothless, I didn't mean to wake you." She continued to pat him as he laid his head on her lap. He's not changed?

Toothless groaned which Astrid understood that he hadn't. She could tell the Night Fury was getting restless but didn't know how to help him. What would Hiccup usually do in this situation?

"You wanna go for a ride?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

Toothless snorted, and kept his eyes fixed in the direction of Hiccup.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," she said, "It's not the same without him is it?"

Resigned to the fact that Toothless wasn't going anywhere until Hiccup had regained consciousness, Astrid leant into and buried her face in the dragon's neck and dozed off.

Near sunset, Stoick still hadn't heard from Astrid and went to check on her. He found her snuggled into Toothless' side, both breathing deeply. He wanted to leave them be but she knew her parents would be starting to worry. She'd been gone for hours. So he walked up to the pair and gently woke her.

After looking out the window and realising the time, Astrid woke up properly and said a quiet goodbye to Stoick and Toothless, promising to be back tomorrow.

When she was gone, Stoick returned to his son's room and replaced the blanket over Hiccup.

"Why'd you move his blanket Toothless?" He asked, the last few times he'd been in the room, Hiccups blankets had been either pulled back or thrown off entirely. Toothless however pretended to be innocently sleeping every time. If that dragon didn't stop knocking off the blankets, Hiccup would never get better with all the colds he'd get. As quiet as he tried, Stoick still managed to make enough noise that neither he, nor Toothless noticed the exceptionally loud sigh that escaped from under the blankets. Nor did they see the small signs of life behind the lids of the now dreaming Viking.

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**so hopefully i'll get the third one up soon, i've got the story all planned, its just getting it all sounding right on the page that gets a bit slow.**


	3. Chapter 3

**So this ones a bit longer but i just couldn't stop writing from the last one...hope you enjoy it!** **DISCLAIMER: I don't own the dialogue at the beginning not the storyline. Just my wording.**

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_Late at night Hiccup walked into his house. Upon closing the door, he turned to see the large silhouette of his father, seated on a thick slice of tree-trunk slouched over the fire-pit, stirring the coals with his axe. Hiccup tried to sneak past him and up the stairs to his room. Except… _

_"__Hiccup." Stoick said in a gruff voice._

_Hiccup winced as he paused halfway up the stairs._

_"__Dad. Uh..." he said as Stoick stood up and turned, taking a deep breath, he continued "I, uh... I have to talk to you, Dad."_

_"__I need to speak with you too, son." Stoick said, rubbing his hands together._

_They both straightened up at the same moment and together, say_

_"__I've decided I don't want to fight dragons"_

_"__I think its time you learnt to fight dragons"_

_They both pause._

_"__What?" _

_"__What?"_

_"__You go first." Said Stoick._

_"__No, you go first." Hiccup said wanting to put off seeing his father's disappointment for as long as possible._

_"__Alright." Stoick sighed, "You get your wish. Dragon training. You start in the morning."_

_"__Oh man, I should've gone first." Hiccup tried to back pedal, he rubbed the back of his neck "Uh, 'cause I was thinking, you know we have a...surplus of dragon-fighting Vikings, but do we have enough bread-making Vikings, or small home repair Vikings—"_

_"__-You'll need this." Stoick said as he handed Hiccup a large axe, which caused him to stumble._

_"__I don't want to fight dragons." Hiccup said recovering his balance._

_ "__Come on. Yes, you do." Said Stoick, turning back towards the fire._

_"__Rephrase: Dad I can't kill dragons." Hiccup desperately tried to get his father to understand._

**_"_**_But you _will_ kill dragons." Stoick replied confidently, clearly unaware of his son's discomfort._

_"__No, I'm really, very, extra sure that I won't." _not after this afternoon_, he thought._

_"__It's time Hiccup." Stoick said, looking more severe._

_"__Can you not hear me?" Hiccup was beginning to get desperate._

_"__This is serious son!" Stoick forced the axe into Hiccup's hands the right way. His arms drop slowly with its weight again. He looked up to see Stoick under-lit with firelight. Large shadows covered his face, "When you carry this axe... you carry all of us with you. Which means you walk like us." He brought the axe back upright "You talk like us." He straightened Hiccups stance, "You think like us. No more of..." He gestured non-specifically at Hiccup "…this."_

_"__You just gestured to all of me." Hiccup rolled his eyes._

_"__Deal?"_

_"__This conversation is feeling very one-sided.__**"**_

_"__Deal?__**" **__he said more forcefully_

_Hiccup glanced at the axe in his hands. There was no point in arguing with his father. _

_"__Deal." Hiccup sighed._

_Satisfied, Stoick grabbed his helmet and duffel bag and headed for the door. _

_"__Good." Stoick straightened his helmet "Train hard. I'll be back…. Probably."_

_"__And I'll be here…. Maybe."_

_Stoick heads out the door, leaving Hiccup holding the axe._

_Hiccup stood there for a few moments, contemplating what had just happened. His father had finally agreed to let him fight and kill dragons. Something he'd wanted to do ever since he could remember. But now, the last thing Hiccup wanted to do was to even think about them. He was still terrified of them but after his encounter with the Night Fury, Hiccup knew he could never bring himself to kill a dragon. He was too weak._

_He let the axe fall to the floor as the walked up the remaining stairs to his room._

_Lying in bed, Hiccup imagined if his mother was still here. She'd had been taken by a dragon herself. Would she be endorsing what her husband was saying? Or would she take the time to listen to Hiccups problems, maybe even helping him overcome his weakness._

_He eventually fell into a restless sleep, dragons and fire haunting his dreams._

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Morning sunlight peaked into the window of the chief's house, landing on Hiccup and, slowly, waking him up.

Eventually, he opened his eyes and stretched. He felt as if he'd slept for days he was so stiff. Hiccup swung his legs off his bed and began slowly walking to the stairs. As he stepped onto the first step, he heard a thud. Looking down, he saw instead of his left foot, a small metal foot protruded from under his pants. He would have yelled out if he hadn't heard a loud huff coming from behind him.

He turned around and what he saw, nearly made him yell out again.

Crouched in the corner, clearly asleep, was the Night Fury he had shot down and released yesterday. Quietly, he descended the stairs and ran outside towards Gobber's shop. Why was it here? Did it come to finish him off for shooting it?

"Gobber! Help!" He entered the shop and as usual, found Gobber banging away at a piece of red hot metal "there's a dragon in my room!"

"Hiccup? You're awake? Oh that's brilliant!" he scooped Hiccup into a bone-crushing hug and patted his back " ye had us all worried and ye fathers been frettin' about you for the last few days."

"He has?" that didn't sound like him.

"Oh yes, very worried" Gobber looked around on the bench for something, "you might want to head up to the arena though, you'll be wanted there too."

"Oh yeah, dragon training right?" Hiccup said remembering he was supposed to be learning how to kill dragons with Gobber today.

"I think so" finding a small nail, he admired it for a second before throwing it away again.

"What time are we meeting?" Hiccup asked. His father had failed to mention it before he left last night.

"How should I know? Just get up there, everyone will come soon enough" with that Gobber turned around and resumed his hammering.

Slightly confused, Hiccup slowly made his way to the arena, too deep in thought to pay attention to anything around him.

He was dreading dragon training. Most of the kids around here would brag about how close they'd been to dragons. Snotlout was always saying that he'd in fact managed to shoot down a Deadly Nadder once, but no one completely believed it. Even Astrid never seemed afraid during raids on Berk, she even seemed to enjoy the thrill of it. Fishlegs knew everything there was to know about Dragons and the twins, well, when they really wanted to, they could be a force to be reckoned with.

Hiccup was the only Viking in three hundred years who couldn't bring himself to kill a dragon. A Night Fury too. The dragon that nobody has ever seen, the one that scares even his father.

That thought brought him back to the sight of the dragon in his room. The best he could do was hope that it would be gone by the time he got back.

When he arrived at the arena, no one was there and so Hiccup waited just outside until the others arrived.

While he was waiting, he looked around inside the arena. Hiccup had never actually been in the arena before, just watched from the sidelines as older Vikings had fighting contests between each other or a dragon. Off to the side of the arena, several doors were spaced out keeping dragon cages behind them for training or sport. Usually you could hear the growls of the animals even from outside. Today though, Hiccup couldn't hear anything. Perhaps Gobber had moved them because of training.

Soon, he heard voices coming from around the corner and Snotlout, the twins and Fishlegs walked up with Astrid following behind. Unfortunately, Gobber didn't seem to be there. _Great_, Hiccup thought.

"Hiccup?" Astrid called evidently not seeing him from where she was.

"Yeah?" Hiccup said as he stood up and stepped out from behind the wall.

All five teens spun around at the sound of his voice, identical shocked expressions on their faces.

Astrid was first to relax, rushing up to him with a huge smile on her face and hugging him tightly.

Her sudden movement startled Hiccup and knocked him off balance. Regaining himself, he realised that Astrid, the one he'd had a crush on for years now, was hugging him.

"Astrid?" he squeaked, wondering what was going on. He could feel his face begin to burn so he cleared his throat and asked, "Uh, what's going on?"

"We've all been so worried about you" Astrid said releasing Hiccup and taking a step back.

"Well she has, I knew you were fine" Snotlout said seemingly indifferent.

"We are kinda glad you're awake though," Ruffnut added.

"Yeah, Astrid's been even more angry than usual," said Tuffnut, rubbing his shoulder from where Astrid had punched him the day before "What? You hurt!"

"So she's been taking out her frustration on us"

"It's terrifying"

"Guys, she's barely been here!" Fishlegs pointed out.

"Yeah but if she _were_, she'd be taking it out on us!" Tuffnut said pointing at himself.

"Anyway," Astrid interjected, glaring at Tuffnut before turning back to Hiccup "why're you here? Gobber said he sent you here after you came to see him. He also said you looked a little confused."

"Uh, yeah, I'm very confused right now, why are you all talking to me?" Hiccup asked, "I mean, you've never spoken to me before."

"What?" said Fishlegs.

"What are you talking about? She always talks to you." Snotlout said.

"Yeah, you're like best friends now." Said Fishlegs.

"What?" Hiccup was really confused now.

A loud roar from behind caught the group's attention.

A Zippleback and a Monstrous Nightmare were in a squabble over something and Snotlout and the twins began cheering.

"Get 'em Hookfang!" Snotlout shouted punching the air.

"Barf! Belch! You can't take that lying down!" yelled Tuffnut.

"What's wrong with you?" Ruffnut said as Hookfang shot a small fireball

"Both of you get your dragons to cut it out!" Astrid yelled "Hiccup! A little help? Hiccup?"

Astrid turned around but Hiccup was nowhere to be seen.

Running as fast as he could back to his house, Hiccup tripped and face planted. Sitting up, he looked at his foot. It had been covered with grass and dirt as he ran and caused him to trip. He hadn't given it much thought since he'd woken up, but now that he looked at it, he thought he was dreaming. How could he go to sleep one night with both feet, and wake up one short? Legs didn't simply fall off and walk away in the night.

"Hiccup!"

A large black animal pounced on Hiccup as he turned at the sound of his father's voice, and began licking him.

"Oh son, you had us all worried" Stoick came up behind the pair as just as Hiccup registered what was going on.

Hiccup screamed loudly and scrambled out from underneath the Night Fury and again, ran as fast as he could back to his house.

Toothless and Stoick looked at each other in concern as Astrid ran up behind them.

"Sir," she puffed "was that Hiccup?"

"Yes it was." He said.

"Do you know what's wrong with him?" Astrid asked.

"I'm not sure. Why? What happened at the academy? Gobber said he was a bit out of it this morning." Stoick replied.

"He freaked out when he saw the dragons and seemed to think we've never talked to him." Astrid was starting to get a bit worried.

Toothless ran back to the house and jumped up into the window the way he usually did in search of Hiccup. Stoick and Astrid weren't far behind and, from outside, they heard Hiccup yell out again.

Entering the house, they both saw something that they were sure they'd see.

Hiccup was brandishing a poker at Toothless who still clearly wanted to play, but could tell something was wrong with Hiccup. He seemed hurt that Hiccup would threaten him like this.

"Dad! Help!" Hiccup whispered, sounding terrified, eyes darting between his father and the dragon that was blocking his exit.

"What in Odin's name are you doin' son?" Stoick asked as he approached "what's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" Hiccup asked perplexed "there's a dragon in the house and you're not doing anything! What's wrong with _you_?"

"Well, what do you want me to do?"

"Get rid of it!"

"Toothless?" Stoick was beginning to get worried

"OK that's it, what's going on Hiccup?" Astrid had had enough, there was no way Hiccup was fine "you get hit in the head and suddenly, you forget your best friend? That's not right"

"Best friend?" Hiccup said, looking between Astrid and Toothless, "I don't have a best friend, and even if I did, it'd never be a dragon!"

Toothless' ears had been slowly drooping but when Hiccup said that, they fell completely flat and he stepped back. Hiccup straightened up and lowered the poker.

"So?" Astrid insisted.

"So what?" Hiccup asked

"What's going on?" Astrid slowly advanced towards Hiccup.

"What do you mean?"

"Why are you acting weird?"

"I'm not acting weird, everyone else it, last night you tell me I'm going to be in dragon training" Hiccup said, gesturing to Stoick, "and that he's going off to try to find the dragon nest a- wait, why are you here dad?"

"What do you mean son?" Stoick said confused.

"I mean, you're supposed to be looking for the dragon's nest at Hellhounds Gate like you do every year," Stoick never missed a chance to try to find where the dragon's nest was "you left last night"

"We found the nest ages ago" Astrid said.

"Huh?"

"Yeah, we found a Red Death there," Astrid added, "it was controlling the dragons and making them raid Berk to feed it."

"Wait, we?"

"Yeah, you were there, Snotlout the twins and Fishlegs all helped too," Astrid "that's how you lost your leg,"

"But I don't remember any of that" Hiccup looked down as his foot as Toothless nudged him, "Ahh! Umm, please, I'd feel much better if he wasn't here."

"He's harmless though," Astrid said, gesturing to the, admittedly, innocent- looking dragon.

"All the same, though." Said Hiccup

"OK, come on boy, he just needs some time. You can go with Stormfly, she'll look after you" Astrid said as Toothless walked, shoulders hunched, outside.

Hiccup felt a pang of guilt in his stomach seeing the dragon look so devastated. He seemed genuinely hurt that Hiccup didn't want him around. But, why? Dragons are mindless and will kill anyone without a second thought. His father had always been firm on this point.

_But something's changed_ Hiccup thought; _he was relaxed when that Night Fury jumped at you outside and when he wasn't three feet from him just now._

So why did fifteen years of hatred towards dragons of any shape or size, suddenly shift to Stoick the Vast, the man who decapitated a dragon when he was a baby, standing completely relaxed beside a Night Fury. The dragon that had been feared the most by the people of Berk?

"So if you don't remember any of that," Stoick said as Astrid re-entered "what do you remember?"

**I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did while writing it. Loving the feedback I've been getting so far as well! keep it coming :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**So, here's the next chapter. They should be getting longer now, so it might take a bit longer for me to update them. the feedback ive gotten about last chapter was great! Enjoy!**

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Hiccup was in his room watching the sun set through his window. Astrid had left, not too long ago to settle Toothless in at her house. It had been decided that, until Hiccup was ready, he would stay with Stormfly. Hiccup felt a pang of guilt when he watched Toothless hang his head and follow Astrid and Stormfly. She and Stoick had told Hiccup everything that had happened, including all the times that the Night Fury had saved him. If they were right, Toothless was the most loyal friend anyone could ask for. He had risked his life for Hiccup over and over and had never failed him.

But however much he tried; Hiccup couldn't make sense of it. The vision of countless dragons raiding Berk night after night, nor the image of Toothless pinning him to the ground after Hiccup had released him contantly popped into his mind. They were animals, it was kill or be killed around them.

_That's not true at all_, he thought, _that Night Fury could have torn you limb from limb, but he didn't_. That was true, it would have been a perfect opportunity for a bloodthirsty beast. They had been in a secluded part of the forest alone and Hiccup wasn't nearly strong enough to fight him despite his many years of lifting weapons in Gobber's shop. He would be no match for the dragon. Yet, he had simply roared at Hiccup and left.

Maybe they were all right. A whole town can't be this wrong in trusting dragons, but common sense told Hiccup that dragons were evil. True none had attacked him, nor anyone else in the village but Hiccup still couldn't bring himself to do it.

Conflicting thoughts raced through his mind as the sun rose higher and eventually, Hiccup heard the sounds of his father getting up. Stoick was about to leave but paused when he saw his son on the stairs.

"How are you son?" He asked.

"'M good" Hiccup said, dragging his feet as he begun getting breakfast.

"What are you planning on doing today?" Stoick asked, his body half inside, half outside.

"I'm not sure; maybe I'll go help Gobber in the shop." Hiccup smiled at the thought. Gobber was always good when Hiccup didn't want to be pestered too much.

"Sounds good, he'd like that, we'll I'm off, I'll see you later tonight."

"Ok, bye dad."

With that, Stoick shut the door behind him and Hiccup was left eating his breakfast he finished he made his way over to the old Vikings shop. During his walk, Hiccup began looking around. It was only then that he realized just how much Berk had changed. No longer was the carnage of recent raids scattered over the streets. There were large sheds, which clearly housed large dragons. Every now and then a Nadder or Gronckle flew overhead. Hiccup even saw a group of Terrors investigating a small barrel of fish.

Soon, he reached the shop and heard Gobber singing away as he pounded at red-hot iron.

"Well I've got my axe and I've got my mace..." he sung merrily as Hiccup walked in "...and I love my wife with the ugly face, I'm a Viking through and through!"

"Hey Gobber," Hiccup said as he entered the shop.

"Hiccup! What're you doin' here?" He spun around to see Hiccup, "Shouldn't you be at the Academy?"

"Yeah I guess," he said as he put on an apron, "but I'm still struggling with the whole 'dragons-are-our-friends' thing though."

"Oh OK, gettin' a bit nervous around them are you?" Gobber turned back to his work "Well, it'll get better."

"Hopefully"

For most of the morning, Hiccup fell into an old rhythm, hammering away and keeping the fire temperature up. But by around midday, Astrid came into the shop looking for Hiccup.

"Hi" she said happily as she entered.

"Hey Astrid" Hiccup said, putting down his hammer.

There was a pause

"Can I...uh...Can I help you?" Hiccup asked nervously.

"Can't I just come and see how you're doing?" she asked

"Uhh, yeah, I guess" he had no idea of what to say to her so he simply waited for her to start.

"I've got my axe and I've got my mace"

Gobber had begun singing again which startled the pair.

"I'm a Viking through and THROUGH!"

Both teens stood awkwardly near the door. After a few seconds, she asked, "So, how are you coping?"

"Well, it's all still a bit surreal" he said, "but I'm slowly getting used to the idea of dragons being around I guess"

"So you've started remembering?" She brightened at the thought.

"No, no!" He said quickly, causing her face to fall slightly as he did, "No I'm just, you know...coming to terms with it."

"So you're still scared of them?" She asked

"I'm not scared, just a bit nervous." Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck. It was true, he wasn't scared of them exactly, they just made him really jumpy.

A thought seemed to have struck Astrid.

"So you'd be OK around them?" She asked.

"Well, I didn't say that."

"Alright then, if you can't handle _real_ dragons, what if we just _taught_ you everything we _know_ about them?" She suggested, "You and Fishlegs have added heaps to the book of Dragons since the Academy started, maybe it'd help you get over them a bit."

"I guess." Hiccup wasn't entirely convinced but it would be interesting at least to learn about dragons. Just as long as they weren't there in the flesh, "So wait, I've added to it too?"

"Of course, you're the one who trains most of them and finds out their abilities and Fishlegs makes a note of it." She said it as if it were common knowledge, which it probably was to everyone else, "What we know of Scauldrons, Typhoomerangs, Whispering Deaths and especially Night Furies, we owe to you, and because of you, Ruffnut was able to train a Scauldron all by herself."

"Wait, Ruffnut actually listened? To me? And it didn't end in disaster?" He had never heard of either of the twins ever listening to a word anyone said, not even his father, their chief. So why would they listen to Hiccup?

"Yeah, but trust me, it doesn't happen often. We were all just as surprised as you are now. It was a weird day for all of us." She said with a laugh.

A loud roar made Hiccup jump and Astrid turn around as a large, red Monstrous Nightmare landed in the street.

"Hey Astrid!" Snotlout yelled jumping down from the dragon, "Fishlegs said he needed to talk to you, something about the Academy."

"OK," she turned back to Hiccup, "Well, I'm needed, I'll meet you tomorrow to start those dragon lessons, alright?" She began running off to her house; Hiccup guessed that's where she'd left her dragon.

"Dragon lessons?" Snotlout pulled a face, "Since when does The Dragon Conqueror need _dragon lessons_?"

"Since he forgot all about them." Hiccup wasn't in the mood for Snotlout's teasing and so he turned and headed back to his work.

Unfortunately, Snotlout had different ideas and followed him inside to continue.

"Wait, so Astrid was right? You have no clue about what happened after you met Toothless." A smirk was creeping onto his face as he said this.

"Apart from the fact that I hit a Night Fury?" Hiccup said, keeping his back to Snotlout, "Yes, that is correct. Now I have a bit of work to do, so if you'd be so kind as to let me finish."

"OK, but I just want to make sure you understand one thing. You and Astrid might've been all chummy, but she's mine! I mean look at me!" Hiccup glanced around as he flexed his arms, "who wouldn't want a piece of the Snot-man?"

Hiccup had a very simple answer but he thought it better to simply agree.

"I don't know, Snotlout" he said dryly.

Snotlout, misunderstanding his tone said confidently, "Yeah, that's what I thought." He then turned and strode outside. Hiccup heard the dragon roar and beat its wings as it took of.

It was typical of Snotlout to pick a Monstrous Nightmare, one of the most dangerous dragons, to ride. But then, look at what Hiccup had chosen. He was riding and had befriended a Night Fury. No one had even seen, let alone touched or ridden one but apparently, Hiccup was best friends with one and had called it Toothless.

"What kind of a name is Toothless?" he said to himself.

"Huh?" Gobber said from around the corner.

"Uh, nothing! Just talking to myself" Hiccup called.

"OK then," and the banging resumed.

After a moment, curiosity got the better of him.

"Hey Gobber" Hiccup asked. The banging stopped and Gobber came around the corner, "do you know why I called my dragon Toothless? I mean he's got plenty of teeth."

"You know, Hiccup, I'm not completely sure why, but I think it might have somethin' to do with the fact that he's got retractable teeth." He said as he polished off the piece of metal he had been working on that day, "I should know, I have to check 'em."

"You have to check his teeth?" Hiccup asked, "Why?"

"So he doesn't get cavities of course!" He finished cleaning the metal and put it down.

"Yeah, but, why you?" Hiccup continued.

"Because that's what I do. Since we stopped killing dragons, I've stopped making so many weapons and so I spend most of my time fixing dragon teeth." He picked up the piece of metal again and Hiccup realized it was an iron tooth, the size of a dragon's. "Just like this one. Isn't it a beauty? Oh, here comes the client."

Hiccup turned just in time to see an orange Zippleback land in front of Gobber's shop. Automatically Hiccup reached for a weapon but stopped as Gobber ran out and began fixing the tooth in place.

Hiccup watched in amazement as the dragon kept it's mouth open for Gobber to attach the tooth. Each trusted the other to not hurt them. It really was incredible, but also slightly terrifying and nerve wracking. Hiccup half expected something to go wrong, knowing how heavy-handed Gobber could be. He could hurt him and the dragon would probably chomp down hard, taking yet another limb from the seasoned fighter.

As the day wore on, Hiccup stayed inside the shop as more dragons came for their teeth to be fixed. By the end, Hiccup had stopped watching, as it was too stressful to watch his longtime mentor put his hand and head inside a dragon's mouth, time after time.

Eventually it came time for him to leave and, after shouting goodbye, Hiccup left for his house where his father would already be waiting for him.

Stepping inside, Hiccup saw his father was sitting stoking the fire, just as he had been on the night Hiccup was told he'd be starting dragon training the next day and he suddenly felt slightly dizzy.

"Are you alright son?" Stoick asked, standing up.

"Yeah dad, I'm fine, just a bit tired." Hiccup said slightly dazed and sat down across the fire.

Stoick sat again and returned to stoking the fire.

"So how was your day?" he asked, looking from the fire to Hiccup.

"Well, it was interesting," Hiccup said, "Turns out Gobber doesn't make dragon-killing weapons as much anymore. Now he fixes their teeth. I found that out the hard way."

"No he doesn't," Stoick said with a chuckle, "I was wondering when you'd find that out."

"What? You didn't think to warn me?"

"No, I thought about it, but I decided against it." He put the poker down and continued, "Dragons are a part of life here on Berk now, and you might as well get used to it."

"I suppose you're right," Hiccup conceded, "but that doesn't mean it's going to be easy!"

"I don't expect it to be," he held up his hands in defense, "Thor knows how long it took me to get used to the idea of them, but eventually, even I came around and got my own dragon."

"You have a dragon?" Hiccup was surprised, he hadn't seen one near the house except for Toothless and his dad had never mentioned one.

"Not anymore, no, I had to release him." He seemed to miss him, "But I used to have a Thunderdrum. I called him Thornado." He added proudly.

"What's a Thunderdrum?" Hiccup asked.

"It's a dragon that creates a sonic blast instead of fire. You told me legend said that he got his power from Thor himself." Stoick said. Stretching, he stood up, "Well, it's late, I'm going to be very busy tomorrow and I'm sure you've got plenty of work to do too tomorrow, it's probably best we get some sleep."

Hiccup agreed wholeheartedly. He was exhausted. The physical work, combined with the mental stress of the dragons, had completely worn him out. Both he and Stoick left for their rooms.

That night, Hiccup thought of the next day where Astrid was going to be teaching him about dragons. With all the surprises of the last few days, Astrid noticing him was by far the best. Just as long as she wasn't being nice out of pity, which Hiccup didn't think was in her nature, he could endure Snotlout's taunting more easily.

Hiccup then drifted off to sleep, pointlessly hoping that tomorrow would be far less confusing.

* * *

**Phew! That was longer than i thought it was going to be. I wanted to keep it going but it'd just get too long. again, give me any and all feedback you've got, re they ooc? is it bad writing? i can take it!**


	5. Chapter 5

**So this one should clarify a few things that people have been saying as ooc...**

* * *

The next day, Hiccup woke up just as the first rays were peeking over the horizon. Deciding to get up, he stretched and began to make his way downstairs, leaving well before his father began to stir.

Stepping into the morning air woke Hiccup up immediately. He looked around at the village. Frost covered most of the ground, creating a silvery coating over the houses and grass. He could see Astrid's blue house that was covered in spikes, and in the shed next to it, he spotted a blue Nadder he recognized as her dragon and, next to it, a small black mass he guessed to be Toothless.

Watching the way Gobber had been so calm around the dragons and how the dragons had trusted him rattling and hammering around in their mouths made Hiccup really question everything he thought about dragons.

It was all too much to take in at once. Hiccup began wandering around the deserted village, mulling over the bombardment of information he'd received a few days ago.

First of all, all of Berk had accepted dragons. That was the hardest to come to terms with, considering the absolute hate that everyone, especially his father, had towards all dragons.

Then there was the fact that no one ignored him. They didn't sneer or whisper when they saw him and his father was much softer than Hiccup remembered. Sure he was still tough and rough around the edges. He was a Viking chief after all. But most of that harshness had been directed away from Hiccup and his disastrous attempts at helping, and more towards his chief duties. For once in his life he appeared to have friends.

Finally, there was the sudden change with Astrid. He was used to admiring her from afar. She was tough, strong and beautiful. She was the ideal girl for any man. A fact that Snotlout had discovered early in their childhood and had never stopped pursuing. Hiccup remembered the many times Snotlout had been hit or otherwise manhandled during his pursuit of Astrid.

Hiccup let his feet carry him towards and into the forest, occasionally stumbling over roots and sticks.

After a particularly lose root had wrapped around his leg and send him face first into the dirt, Hiccup sat up and stared at his metal foot.

That was another shock. Waking up and finding yourself one limb short was enough to make anyone panic, but it had been lost amongst everything Hiccup had to deal with. It was still a nasty feeling every time he walked, but he was slowly getting used to it and slowly, it made its way to the back of his mind, allowing Hiccup to concentrate on more pressing matters.

Just then, Hiccup heard a twig break. His head snapped up, looking towards the sound. It was in the direction he'd come. Standing up he realized he was a long way into the forest by now. As he turned around, he thought he could hear rustling, as if a large yak had escaped. It sounded about the right size. He'd have to let his father know some were loose.

Hiccup continued walking and after a while, he figured out he was just off Raven Point. Feeling a bit better now he knew where he was, Hiccup began thinking again about the night he'd shot down Toothless. Getting an idea, Hiccup began searching for the area that he'd found him in. He knew by now that the large trench made by the dragon as he crashed into the forest would be gone by now, or at least be far too overgrown to be recognized but Hiccup hoped he'd still be able find it regardless. After all, he could remember it as if it were only two days ago. Which, to him, it was.

He reached the area and sure enough, if he hadn't been looking for it, Hiccup would never have spotted the slight change in the ground. Hiccup walked down the slope to where he had cut the ropes and released Toothless. Following the direction that he knew that the Night Fury had taken off in, Hiccup walked on until he reached a small cove.

Looking around at the steep sides surrounding the cove, Hiccup began climbing down. He felt somewhat comforted as he began walking around, taking in the area. When he reached the other side, he heard the sound of dislodged rocks falling to the ground from where he'd entered. Hiccup looked around and he saw Toothless standing on the ledge looking down at Hiccup. It looked as if Toothless wanted to come down but couldn't. Then Hiccup remembered that Astrid had told him he had been injured in his fall and lost part of his tail, along with his ability to fly by himself. As he looked around, Hiccup realized that the sides would be far too steep for Toothless to climb.

Toothless began to whine and grumble from where he was and sat on his hind legs.

"OK, I'm coming." Hiccup called to the dragon.

As he reached the start of the incline to the entrance of the cove, a throbbing pain in his head caused Hiccup to call out. Toothless whined again and began making his way down towards Hiccup.

"No, no, you stay there, I'm fine." He said as he began walking again and the dragon backed up to where he was originally.

Reaching the top, he looked at the dragon. His bright green eyes were large and round with worry.

"I'm OK bud," he said, as Toothless perked his ears up, "come on, I need to find Astrid, I've got to meet her soon."

With that, they both began walking back to the village.

On the way, Toothless began running around Hiccup, pouncing at birds and jumping onto low hanging branches. Every now and then, he'd look back at Hiccup as if to ask him to join in, to which Hiccup declined.

When they reached the edge of the trees, the pair began making their way towards the arena. When they reached it, Hiccup saw that Astrid was already there.

"Hey Astrid" he said walking in.

She spun around "Hiccup! Toothless? Where were you both?"

"I went for a walk and I think he might've followed me

"I was wondering where he went," she said as "does this mean you're OK around dragons now?"

"Not completely," Hiccup admitted, "but Toothless is OK, I guess"

"Good, because Fishlegs is coming too." She said.

"Why? I thought it was just you and me," he asked.

"It was but I thought Fishlegs should be here as he has the Book of Dragons practically memorized." She said with a shrug.

"I guess so," he was a bit disappointed that it wasn't going to be just him and Astrid but Hiccup knew that Fishlegs had always been very knowledgeable about the subject of dragons and so it was understandable that she would ask for his help.

A few minutes later there was a buzzing of wings and Fishlegs arrived, riding a Gronkle

"Hi Astrid! Hey Hiccup, how are you doing" he slid off the dragon, who then proceeded to waddle over to the side and lay down for a nap.

"I'm good Fishlegs," Hiccup replied as he watched the heavily armoured dragon as it slept.

"That's good," the large boy said as he pulled his satchel off his shoulder.

"Well, should we get started?" Astrid asked. Both her and Fishlegs then walked over to a blackboard that was in the corner.

"Where do we start?" Hiccup asked as he followed them both over.

"Well-" Fishlegs began but was cut off by a loud flapping of wings and obnoxious whooping.

"Woo hoo! Go Hookfang!" Snotlout yelled as he and his Monstrous Nightmare pulled into the arena, closely followed by the twins on their Zippleback.

"Snotlout, what are you doing here?" Astrid asked, clearly not in the mood for Snotlout or the twins their antics.

"What's wrong babe?" Snotlout asked as he jumped off Hookfang and strode over, "I'm here to help Hiccup with his terrible fear of dragons."

"Im not your babe and it's not a 'terrible fear'," Astrid retorted, "and besides, I think Fishlegs and I have got this."

"Yeah, but Fishlegs only has experience in reading about dragons, I have experience in the field," he said as he stuck a heroic pose.

"An we have experience in, uh, firepower!" Tuffnut added.

"Yep! We know the in's and out's of any dragons fire-breathing capabilities." Ruffnut said.

"So, you'll need us too if you want to teach a comprehensive lesson and ensure Hiccup's safety." Said Tuffnut.

"That was a lot of big words." Ruffnut whispered to her brother.

"I know" he replied.

Both twins stood there with their arms folded and a smug look on their faces.

"You two know the fire-breathing capabilities of dragons other than Zipplebacks?

"Of course we do!" Tuffnut scoffed.

"We're not stupid!" Ruffnut said.

"OK then, show us," Astrid challenged.

"Too easy, but why don't you finish what you're lesson was and we'll just wrap it up, I'd hate for you to feel less important."

"Whatever, Fishlegs, where's the book?" Astrid turned back to Hiccup and Fishlegs and began teaching everything she and Fishlegs knew about dragons and how to train them.

After about half an hour of going over different dragons and what their abilities were, as well as the steps of how to train them, Hiccup had learned an enormous amount, despite the constant complaining from Snotlout as well as the insistent clanging of helmets from the twins. The dragons were all asleep to the side except Toothless who patiently sat beside Hiccup.

"Blah, blah, blah, when are we gonna get to the good stuff?" Snotlout said from his seat when he couldn't stand them droning on and on.

"What do you mean?" Astrid asked looking up from the book.

"I mean, when are we going to go out and actually find the dragons?"

"Were not flying. Hiccups not ready for that, are you?" she looked at Hiccup.

"Probably not." Hiccup admitted

"Has he even tried to fly?" Snot lout scoffed.

"You know, Astrid, that's actually not the worst idea," Fishlegs said, "I mean, he doesn't have to fly a dragon or anything but he could at least get used to patting them or something"

"What do you think Hiccup?" Astrid asked facing him.

"I guess that'd be OK" He said, a bit nervous, mainly because of Hookfang, Snotlout's Monstrous Nightmare.

"OK then, I'll go get Stormfly."

Hookfang didn't seem to be too aggressive, it was more the large horns and teeth that made Hiccup feel slightly on edge. The twins' Zippleback, Barf and Belch, he'd learned, were slightly less intimidating. They still had rather large teeth and the fact that there were two heads to watch however meant that Hiccup wasn't completely relaxed around them either. Meatlug on the other hand, clearly was the gentlest one there. She simply slept in the corner most of the time, and when she was awake, she wasn't all that fast and so Hiccup was able to see, or hear her coming. Toothless was also not very intimidating due to his size and lack of horns, large teeth or claws. However, he still managed startle Hiccup occasionally with how silently he moved.

When Astrid returned with her dragon, which had apparently been waiting around the corner, Fishlegs lead Hiccup over to Meatlug.

"So, what do you remember about Gronkles Hiccup?" He asked.

"Um, well, they've got six shots."

"Correct, anything else?" Fishlegs prompted.

"Uh, you said they were very territorial and loyal"

"Good. Now, about training dragons, what's the first step?"

"Earn their trust," Hiccup replied, "But Meatlug's already trained, and wouldn't she already trust me, since she knows me?"

"That doesn't matter," he said as he stroked her awake, "because just like you need to earn a dragon's trust, a dragon needs to earn your trust."

"OK, so, what do I do?" Hiccup asked.

"Just put your hand out and let her put her head against it. When she does that, you know she trusts you," Astrid said.

Hiccup put his hand out and almost immediately Meatlug closed her eyes and put her head against it. Her face was scaly and bumpy but still smooth. It was an odd feeling but not unpleasant. He could hear a happy rumble coming from inside her throat. Hiccup slowly pulled his hand away from Meatlug.

"OK, that was great Hiccup" Fishlegs said.

"Yeah" Hiccup hoped that it would continue to go well.

"I think Toothless is feeling a bit left out," Astrid pointed out with a smile.

Hiccup turned around and grinned at the sight of Toothless sitting, eyes wide, on his back legs.

"Hey bud, do you want a pat too?" Hiccup asked.

The others watch as Toothless slowly approached Hiccup. All of a sudden he pounced on Hiccup and began licking him over and over. Hiccup yelped in surprise but laughed when he realized Toothless was just playing.

Suddenly, Hiccup gasped in pain. A mental image worked its way into his head of Toothless wrestling with him in the cove they were in this morning, licking Hiccup in the same way he was now.

"Hiccup?" Toothless steps back from Hiccup as Astrid and Fishlegs rush over to him. They helped him up just as the pain began to subside.

"What's wrong? Hiccup?" Astrid asked. He looked at her face, which was full of worry.

"'M fine, just a headache." He mumbled, not wanting to alarm them any further.

"Are you sure?" questioned Fishlegs.

"Yeah, so, which dragons next?" Hiccup didn't want to be the focus of their worry. He wasn't used to people being overly concerned about his wellbeing and was eager to move on from it.

"You can meet Stormfly," Astrid suggested, "but only if you're sure you're fine."

"Sounds good." Hiccup turned and faced the Nadder, "Hey girl, how are you?"

Hiccup reached his hand up to pet the dragon. Stormfly eyed his hand briefly but, quickly and affectionately, she placed her face against his hand. Hiccup began rubbing her head. Like Meatlug, and Toothless, Stormfly felt scaly and rough, but at the same time, she was slippery and smooth.

When he felt comfortable enough, he turned back to the others and they decided he would go to Barf and Belch next.

The twins' two-headed dragon was nothing like it's riders. Both heads, while moving independently, worked together. Unlike the twins who soon began fighting over whose head was more in control.

"Barf's the one who spills the gas! There'd be no point to Belch if Barf didn't make the smoke!" Ruffnut argued banging her helmet against Tuffnut's,

"Yeah but if there were no Belch to light it, your dragon would be pointless!" Tuffnut responded, hitting his own helmet against Ruffnut's

"Would not!"

"Would too!"

"Guys! Both heads work together, something you should try sometime." Astrid said as Hiccup patted Barf and Belch at the same time.

"I can see why I would have been drawn to dragons," Hiccup said, "there's something about them that I can't describe."

"I know what you mean," Astrid agreed "they're gentle and loving but also fierce and dangerous"

"So I guess Hookfang is next" Fishlegs said and they began to approach the giant Dragon.

"I see you've saved the best for last, eh?" said Snotlout as he stood with his harms crossed.

"Yeah, whatever, Snotlout," said Astrid, "just make sure you doesn't mess this up"

"Me? Why do you always assume I'm going to mess everything up" he patted Hookfang muttering about 'women' and how 'no one listens'.

"You know, you two aren't instilling me with confidence" Hiccup said as he eyed the dragon in front of him.

"It'll be fine," Fishlegs said.

Hiccup began to raise his hand to touch Hookfangs snout. As he did, Hookfang eyed his hand. Eventually, the dragon let Hiccup pat him. Despite his intimidating appearance, Hiccup thought Hookfang was quite gentle for his size. He knew that Monstrous Nightmares were one of the deadliest dragons around Berk, but, right now, he was just as harmless as Toothless. All bark and no bite.

That was until the twins' argument got too close and caused them to land on Hookfang's tail.

Hiccup and the other teens jumped back as Hookfang roared and set himself on fire.

"Hiccup!" Astrid yelled.

Snotlout stepped in front of Hookfang to try to calm him as Hiccup backed away.

"What the hell was that?" Astrid yelled at Snotlout furiously.

"It wasn't me! It was the twins!" He held his hands up in defense.

"Was not! It was just Ruffnut." Tuffnut said as he stood up.

"Was not!" Ruffnut exclaimed, "You pushed me!"

"No I didn't!"

"Yes you did!"

They continued to argue but Hiccup couldn't pay attention as another picture wormed its way into his head with a stabbing force, causing him to hold his head from the pain.

He was facing Hookfang with his hand out, about to pat him. But the scene looked different. For one, he was alone in the arena and second, Hiccup could see his father sitting, watching him.

Suddenly Stoick yelled, "Stop the fight!" and slammed his hammer against the bars of the arena, startling the dragon. Shooting a ball of fire at Hiccup, which he barely dodged, Hookfang continued to chase him around the arena. Attempting to bite or roast him alive.

As soon as it began, it was over and Hiccup opened his eyes to see Toothless standing over him, nudging him to try to get him back up.

"Hiccup! Are you OK?" Fishlegs asked as the came over.

"Yeah," Hiccup sat up and rubbed his head.

"What happened? It looked like the same thing that happened before" he asked.

Hiccup thought for a moment, then replied, "yeah, it was."

"So what was it?" persisted Fishlegs as Astrid made her way over.

"I think I'm getting flashes or something," Hiccup admitted.

"Flashes of what?" Fishlegs asked.

"Well, before it was Toothess and I just mucking around," Hiccup said, turning back to the group "and just then, I was in the arena with Hookfang and he attacked me."

"Did he attack because of your dad?" asked Astrid.

"Yeah, how'd you know that?" Hiccup asked confused.

"Because that's what happened when you were chosen to kill the dragon after winning Dragon Training." She became exited and exclaimed, "You must be getting your memory back! This is great!"

"What's great?" Snotlout asked.

"Hiccups starting to get his memory back!"

"Because of Hookfang?" Snotlout turned and glanced at the now much calmer dragon.

"I guess," said Hiccup.

"Ha! See? I told you we were the best," he bragged.

"Yeah OK, don't hurt yourself," Astrid turned back to Hiccup, "what do you thinks triggering it?"

"It sort of comes when I'm doing something similar to what I've done before." Hiccup replied.

"Maybe we should try to work on that" Astrid suggested, "We could get all your memories back."

"But what if we try too hard and it gets too much for him?" Fishlegs said, "What if he collapses? It could kill him."

"I want to try" Hiccup interrupted.

He wanted to remember. He hated having this empty feeling in the pit of his stomach. He hated how everyone knew more about him than he did. He felt like a stranger in his own mind.

He wanted his memories back, even if it killed him.

* * *

**Just to clarify, Hiccup was reacting slowly to the dragons because there was so much info being thrown at him. In the movie he only had to deal with the dragon while everything else remained the same. Whereas here, pretty much everything he's known has changed in one day for him and it's a lot of information to deal with so naturally, he takes a bit longer than he would have to come to terms with it.**

**Hope you all enjoyed it!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: i don't own anything**

**i had to repost this chapter because of a coding error (thanks to morfowt for pointing that out)**

* * *

Over the next few days, Hiccup, along with the other teens, met at the Academy and proceeded to try to take Hiccup to places around. Berk that may, possibly, trigger any new memories. But by the end of the third day, Hiccup, along with the twins and Snotlout, collapsed exhausted from walking all day.

"Seriously, we've been walking around all day for three days trying to get Hiccup to remember stuff and nothings happened!" Ruffnut said as she leant against her brother for support.

"Yeah, why can't we just fly our dragons instead of walking? It'd be so much faster." Tuffnut let his head fall onto his sister accidentally hitting her helmet.

"Hey, watch it!"

"I didn't do anything!"

"Uh, yeah, you did!"

"Guys!" Astrid raised her voice over the twins shouting to get their attention. They both turned their heads and faced her, still shooting glares at each other but they kept quiet. "The reason we can't ride the dragons is because Hiccup's not comfortable enough around them to fly one."

"Well, why can't we fly and let him walk?" Snotlout asked sitting up from the boulder he had been leaning against, "Just cause _he's_ too chicken!"

"If I remember correctly, Snotlout, _you_ were pretty chicken the day you first met Hookfang," Fishlegs said.

"Yeah…well…so were all of you."

Astrid, Fishlegs and Hiccup all rolled their eyes, not bothering to argue.

"The twins are kind of right though, Astrid" Hiccup said.

"Ha! See?" Tuffnut said triumphantly, then paused and asked, "Wait what did we get right?"

"Walking around the forest isn't working," Hiccup said as he stood up again, "I know you're trying to help me, but it's pointless if I can't remember a thing. Maybe we should stop."

"I second that," Snotlout said, mounting his dragon, "Hookfang? Let's go!"

He then proceeded to tug on Hookfang's horns a little too hard, causing the Nightmare to flame up. Snotlout screamed and ran to a patch of dirt and smothered the flames that had almost engulfed his pants.

"Why? Why do you have to that every time?" He shouted at Hookfang rubbing his rear. The dragon, however, didn't look too apologetic.

"Even though I said I don't want to fly, that right there is the reason I still would rather walk home than using a dragon," Said Hiccup slightly increasing his distance from the irritated and still smoking dragon.

"While I completely understand and agree with you Hiccup, you have to realize that it's only Hookfang who gets a bit temperamental," Hookfang huffed resentfully as she said this. Astrid then began walking over to Hiccup "and who wouldn't with Snotlout as your rider."

"Hey!" Snotlout yelled indignantly.

"What? You know it's true!" Astrid said shrugging.

"Yeah…well…you didn't…have to…say it like _that_," he mumbled.

"So, what are we going to do now?" Asked Fishlegs, "If no one thinks this is helping Hiccup, what should we do now?"

"Maybe we can hit him on the head again, that always help me think of stuff" Suggested Tuffnut.

"And that's why we don't listen to any of your ideas" Astrid replied.

"But I come up with the best ideas!" Tuffnut said in outrage.

"Alright, name one" Astrid challenged, crossing her arms.

"Well, there was...That one time...where...uh...Ruffnut! Hit me again. It'll help me think."

"With pleasure"

With a clang their heads collided and Tuffnut shook his head before saying, "I know! There was that time I came up with a way to rescue Snotlout from a Changewing while under attack from a Thunderdrum!" he then proceeded to cross his arms smugly.

"And what was the plan exactly?" Astrid asked doubtfully.

"To wait for Hiccup to come and save him," he said proudly.

"Genius plan" she scoffed.

"thank you, Astrid, at least someone recognizes my potential" Tuffnut said missing the sarcasm.

"Anyway," she shook her head in disbelief, "Hiccup, what do you want to try next?" Astrid turned back to face Hiccup who had a confused frown on his face, "what's wrong?"

"That was your plan Tuffnut? Wait for me to help you" Hiccup asked the twin, slightly shocked.

"Well duh!" Said Ruffnut, as if stating the obvious, "You and Toothless are the best at rescues"

"It was actually a pretty good plan. For the twins at least," Snotlout said, "it still hurt but considering what could have happened, at least I'm alive."

Hiccup was quiet for a minute before Astrid pulled him out of his reverie.

"So? What do you want to do?" She asked him.

"Uh, I think I'm just going to have a bit of a break if it's OK with you guys." He said rubbing the back of his neck.

"OK we'll start again tomorrow." Astrid said cheerily.

They all traipsed back to the village, with the twins breaking off as soon as they left the tree line, heading towards the hall. No doubt to wreak havoc on unsuspecting Vikings.

"Do you two have any other ideas for Hiccup?" Whispered Fishlegs to Snotlout and Astrid as he jogged slightly to keep up with them.

"No, I think we just have to wait," said Fishlegs, "I mean, we can't force him to remember, we've just got to let them come back in their own time"

"_If_ they come back." Snotlout said in and undertone.

Astrid proceeded to stare at him

"What? It's a possibility!" said Snotlout, holding his hands up in defense, "My mum's cousin lost his memories and he went mad! He ended up taking a boat and never came back. The most they found was his boat wrecked against a sea stack and no sign of him."

"You don't think that's going to happen to Hiccup do you?" Fishlegs began to get seriously worried.

"No, Hiccup's resilient." Astrid said defiantly, "We'll find a way to fix this. He'll get his memories back, won't you?" She turned to where Hiccup was but he was gone, "Where is he?"

"Probably ran off, scared or something" Snotlout said leaving Astrid and Fishlegs and entering the village with Hookfang.

Hiccup was in fact running, but not out of fear. He ran to one of the highest cliffs on Berk and sat down, swinging his legs over the edge. Looking down, at the sea stacks in front of him, he wondered why he chose to come here. The cove he had first really connected with Toothless since losing his memories was much closer and easier to get to, but he felt that he really wanted to be alone, and that dragon already knew where that was.

Hiccup sighed and leant against a thin stick of wood that had been hammered into the ground. He examined the bit of rope that had been tied to it, touching the torn end with his fingers. It looked as if it had been used to tie something up but the rope had snapped, allowing whatever it was to escape.

Suddenly with another forceful headache an image shot into his head. It wasn't much, all he saw was the back of a large, black head and the cliff reaching high above the sea stacks, the wind blowing strongly.

It wasn't much of a visual memory but the emotions were so strong, he still felt them even though it was over. A thrilling excitement had washed over him when the image came into his mind. He felt free, and strong, feelings he had never remembered feeling before. From this high up, it almost felt as if he was flying over the water on the back of a dragon. The most interesting part of it, though, was that it felt right. He felt different when he was around Toothless. He had initially passed it off as simply being nervous around him but now, after thinking about it, it was that he yearned to fly, to have that feeling of freedom and strength that he so lacked on the ground.

Deciding he was going to change that, Hiccup stood and began walking back to the village. It was only just midday so he had plenty of time to put his idea into practice with the help of a few friends.

* * *

Hiccup knocked on a door in the village. Movement could be heard from inside and a few seconds later, Astrid answered, slightly surprised to see Hiccup standing there.

"Hey Hiccup! I was wondering where you'd run off to," she stepped outside, closing the door behind her.

"Yeah sorry about that, I had to clear my head." Said Hiccup sheepishly.

"I thought you wanted a break?" Astrid asked.

"Yeah, but this isn't to get my memories back," He said "I want to learn how to fly a dragon."

"Fly? Really?" Astrid seemed surprised. Hiccup wasn't sure if that should be encouraging.

"Well, you all say I'm a natural so how hard could it be?" he shrugged.

"That's great Hiccup! I'll get the others and meet at the academy" Astrid began walking towards the shed behind her house but Hiccup stopped her.

"Uh, I was wondering if you'd be able to teach me," he said slightly nervous "like, just you."

"Sure, I'll go get Stormfly and we can walk there," she picked up her axe which was leaning on the front door.

"Wouldn't Toothless want to come too?" Hiccup asked as she made her way down the steps.

"Do you want him to?" she asked.

"Sure," Hiccup replied.

"OK then."

They walked around the side where the two dragons were napping in the shade and woke them. They then followed Hiccup and Astrid, feeling slightly grumpy at having been woken so suddenly, to the academy.

When it came into sight, Astrid turned to Hiccup.

"So, where do you want to start?" she asked him "Stormfly's a great acrobat, but she can go nice and easy for you."

"Well, I was wondering if I could just learn how to control Toothless' tail for starters" Hiccup said. He glanced at Stormfly's spikes and internaly gulped.

"Oh, um, OK. Well, I uh, I'm not too sure how to work the tail." She said nervously "You were really the only one who did. I think Fishlegs might be able to though."

"So where's he?" Hiccup asked.

"No idea, I'll probably get Stormfly to find him once we set up in here."

They walked into the arena to find none other than Fishlegs sitting against Meatlug, reading the Book of Dragons yet again.

"What are you doing here Fishlegs?" Astrid asked, causing him to jump slightly and spin around, "We were just about to come find you."

"Oh um, nothing much," he stuttered, "just making sure the book is definitely up to date."

"Uhuh, well, Hiccup decided he wants to learn to fly," said Astrid.

"Oh that's great!" Fishlegs said as he stood up.

"On Toothless" Astrid added.

"Oh" realization dawned on his face as he realized what Astrid wanted.

"Is that OK?" Hiccup asked.

"Well I guess," Fishlegs began fiddling with his hands "it's just that I'm not too sure how much we'd be able to teach you."

"Hey! You've got a better chance than I have." Astrid said "You've flew him once."

"But that was different, Meatlug was in danger. I had to help her." Fishlegs explained.

"Well I'm sure you'll figure something out." Hiccup said, confident that his friends would be able to accomplish this.

"I suppose" Astid sighed.

"So how are we going to do this?" asked Fishlegs.

"What do you mean?" Hiccup was confused

"Do you want to learn on Toothless or not?" Fishlegs clarified.

"How can we do it not on him?" Hiccup was even more confused.

"We could create some sort of dummy that holds the saddle and fin at the right size as if it were on Toothless," Fishlegs suggested, "but, how?"

"There's a barrel over there," Astrid said, pointing to the empty fish barrel near the wall of the arena, "and if we get a few more bits of wood from around here I'm sure we can do it"

"OK then," Hiccup agreed.

Soon a rather crude, makeshift Night Fury made of wood and straps of leather stood in front of them. Toothless looked at it and gave a grunt of disgust. It clearly wasn't a good interpretation of him.

Hiccup made sure everything was secure, while Astrid and Fishlegs removed the saddle and tail from Toothless' back. He moved slightly awkwardly when the weight was lifted. He was so used to having his saddle on, that he felt bare without it.

After they attached the saddle to the makeshift dragon, Hiccup sat atop it and clicked his prosthetic into the stirrup.

"OK so now what?" He asked.

"Now, you click it and the tail will move" Astrid said.

"How do I know which way to click it?" Hiccup had no idea how the pedal was supposed to work.

"Well that's why we're not flying at the moment, just click it and see what it does" Astrid replied.

Hiccup clicked the pedal and he saw the tail spread out fully.

"OK, so that's its main position. You use it to fly normally and glide" Fishlegs said.

Hiccup clicked it again and the tail closed.

"And that's how you shut it off, you don't use that to fly unless you want to plummet out of the air and crash" said Astrid matter-of-factly.

"I'll keep that in mind then" said Hiccup continuing to try different positions.

Soon he had tried all the different gears and was fairly confident about how to use them, but there was only one way to tell.

"Time for a test run, don't you think?" Astrid asked after Hiccup had gone over the gears for a fourth time.

"Uh, you think I'm ready?" he asked nervously.

"Do you you?" Fishlegs asked.

Hiccup thought for a moment. He desperately wanted that feeling of flight again.

"Yes, I'm ready" he said as his confidence began to build.

"Let's go then!" Astrid said as Hiccup dismounted from the saddle.

The trio unstrapped the saddle and placed it on Toothless, who was all but jumping for joy at the prospect of finally going for a flight after so long on the ground. His eyes sparkles with excitement and Hiccup couldn't hold back a laugh at the gummy smile the dragon was giving him.

When all the straps were secure, Hiccup approached Toothless, suddenly wary again of handing over complete control to the dragon.

"Alright bud," he whispered as he bent down so his face was level with Toothless' "I'm trusting you to fly smoothly OK? I just want some simple flying for now, nothing too much. Got that?"

Toothless nodded in agreement and rubbed his nose against Hiccups head.

"Right, here goes nothing" He said as he lifted his good leg up and over the saddle and sat down.

It was definitely different to sitting in the saddle on a pile of wood. Toothless moved constantly, shifting his weight from side to side.

"OK, so remember what we told you, Toothless will do most of the work, you just keep his fin open and change it when it needs to" Astrid said as she climbed onto Stormfly.

"And make sure I don't fall off either" Hiccup joked; trying to conceal the very real concern he had of this happening.

"That too" Astrid laughed.

When Fishlegs and Meatlug were ready, Hiccup took a deep breath and got ready to click open the fin.

"Just hover a little bit OK Toothless?" He whispered to his dragon.

Toothless' wings opened to their full extent. Hiccup stared, not realizing before just how big they were. Then, with a click, Hiccup pressed on the pedal and opened the bright red tail fin. With a strong, sweeping motion, Toothless lifted off the ground and hovered near the chain roof of the Academy.

He heard Astrid and Fishlegs clap and cheer from the ground. Hiccup could feel electricity rushing through him. It was a feeling he knew he would never get enough of.

With a jolt, he realized Toothless had already landed. Astrid and Fishlegs continued to congratulate him.

"I want to go on an actual flight" Hiccup said.

"I think we should take it a bit slower than that, Hiccup," Astrid said, "you're not used to flying, just be a bit patient"

"Yeah," Fishlegs agreed, "and Toothless hasn't flown either for about a week. So we don't want to take it too fast."

"What do you think, bud?" Hiccup asked quietly to Toothless.

A small grumble confirmed Hiccups initial thought.

"Don't worry, we'll take it slow," Hiccup said as he opened the tail fin, "just not as slow as you want."

With that, Hiccup bent low over Toothless' back and the dragon took off into the sky.

"Hiccup!" Astrid and Fishlegs both yelled, taking off after the pair on their own dragons.

The feeling Hiccup had from the memory was nothing to what he felt now. His blood was pulsing through his body. He could feel every movement of Toothless below him. Any and all apprehension he had beforehand had completely dissipated the moment they had left the academy. The sudden image of he and Toothless soaring in and out of the sea stacks worked its way into his head. Hiccup found it hard to distinguish between memory and the present, but he decided he didn't care. The scenery and emotion were so similar they might as well be the same one.

"YEAH!" Hiccup yelled as he soared over Berk, "This is amazing!"

When Astrid and Fishlegs finally caught up to him and Toothless, Hiccup could tell Astrid was not happy.

"What do you think you're doing?" she said with a scowl.

"I'm flying" Hiccup was too happy to really care about her temper.

"Yeah, when you should be taking it slow!" Astrid put her hands on her hips in annoyance.

"Astrid, I don't think there's that much we can do to stop them," Fishlegs said from behind them both.

"That doesn't matter!" Astrid called.

"Come on Astrid," Hiccup pleaded, "everyone goes on about how good of a flier I am. I taught myself how to fly once and I can do it again."

Astrid grumbled but dropped the issue, knowing he was right. If anyone could pull this it would be Hiccup and Toothless.

"Just be careful," she said in a much softer tone, only just hiding her worry.

"You're welcome to join me on this wonderful flight" Hiccup said in mock haughtiness.

"Oh you don't get a choice," Astrid retorted, playing along, "I'm coming whether you want me to or not."

"Good thing I don't mind then," said Hiccup.

"If it's OK," Fishlegs called from behind, "Meatlug and I are just going to go spend some time in one of our special places."

"You can come too, if you want Fishlegs" Hiccup said, slowing down slightly so Fishlegs could catch up.

"Nah, it's OK," he said, "she's hungry and we haven't had nearly enough alone time as usual."

"OK, if you're sure," Hiccup replied, "see you later then."

"Bye Fishlegs" Astrid waved.

"Bye guys!"

With that, Fishlegs turned and headed off to where Hiccup guessed was their 'special place'.

"So, where are we going to go?" Astrid asked, turning her attention back to Hiccup.

"Why don't we go somewhere I don't remember?" Hiccup said, looking out at the horizon, hoping to possibly see an Island "Somewhere interesting."

Astrid thought for a moment and had an idea.

"Let's go to Dragon Island!"

* * *

**thanks for reading! sorry it took a little longer posting, i wanted to get everything right. and the chapters from about 8 onwards will be coming a little bit slower just cos Uni starts back next eek and i wont have quite as much time. don't worry i'll still update!**

**i hope i've done justice to this story so far and i hope you guys are all enjoying it!**

**please let me know of any problems you see or any ideas you have for the story, while i've already got a plan, id love to have your input as well. please review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**oh my goodness! i am sooo sorry for taking do long to update, the story got away from me and with all my uni work...sorry BUT ill update again really soon, promise its already basically done!**

* * *

_"__Lets go to Dragon Island!"_

Hiccup and Astrid started towards Dragon Island. Astrid knew Hiccup wasn't entirely comfortable flying so she let him set the pace for both of them.

Toothless however, was so ecstatic about finally being up in the air again, he be began speeding up, rising above the clouds and then speeding back towards the ocean.

Though terrified, Hiccup was having just as much fun as the Night Fury and soon, his fear left him leaving only the thrill of the wind whipping through his hair. Astrid watched them gliding, rising and falling in the air, sometimes getting splashed with water when Toothless dived a bit close to the frigid water. The look of ecstasy on Hiccups face prevented her from shouting at him and instead she followed his lead and soon, she and Hiccup were racing each other towards the large mass that could be seen looming out of the ocean.

"I win!" Astrid exclaimed as she and Stormfly touched down first on the beach, with Hiccup and Toothless landing only a heartbeat later.

"That's just because I can't remember flying that well," he said sliding off Toothless as the dragon huffed turning away from Stormfly when the walked up to him squawking.

"Yeah, whatever" Astrid said as she not so lightly punched his shoulder.

Hiccup winced and grabbed his shoulder, "Why? Why do you do that?"

"Do what?" she asked innocently.

"Hit me?" despite the fact that he knew she wasn't doing it out of dislike or aggression, that didn't take the throbbing sensation from his shoulder, "I thought we were friends!" he pretended to be hurt and turned away from her.

"We are! See?" she said as she punched him in the other arm, "That's Viking for 'hi friend'."

"Then I'd hate to see what 'hi arch nemesis' is" Hiccup mumbled, rubbing his other arm.

"That's easy, just watch the twins and you'll get it." She stated.

Astrid walked back over to Stormfly and asked, "So, what do you want to do here? We've still got a while before the sun sets and we have to head back."

"Um, why don't we just go for a flight around the Island?" Hiccup said, eyeing the treeline, slightly nervous.

"Yeah, we can do that." She mounted her dragon as Hiccup mounted his and they both took off.

"So this is the Island Vikings have spent hundreds of years searching for, yet never able to find?" he called to Astrid when they were high in the air. They had almost completed half a lap around.

"Yep! Not even a days flight away from Berk." She said, smiling slightly.

"what exatly happened? With the dragons and stuff, I mean. All I know is that I Stopped them raiding the village, but how."

Astrid paused for a few seconds and thought about it. Guessing she could risk it she replied "follow me" and began her descent to the other side of the Island, closest to Berk.

She led him to a beach not far from where they first landed but it looked like it could've been from an entirely different Island Judging by its appearance. Hiccups eyes widened as he took in the sight below him.

Along the beach, the skeletons of a small fleet of ships jutted out of the ocean. Most were almost unrecognizable as Berkian ships. No sails remained on the masts, but the sculpted dragonheads at the bow of some ships were charred and severely damaged.

Stakes and weapons were scattered along the beach, half hidden by sand and dirt. On the side of the mountain, looming over the beach, a gaping hole opened up, allowing no light to escape. Hiccup shivered as he wondered what on earth had made that.

_'They defend themselves, that's all!'_

Searing pain shot through his head suddenly as Toothless began to land. He grasped his head and squeezed his eyes shut tight as images flooded into his head.

_'If they don't bring enough food back, they'll be eaten themselves.'_

An enormous dragon, the same size as the hole, was destroying any and all attacks from the many Vikings on the beach.

_It's like nothing you've ever seen._

It was flying through dark clouds. Turning at the sounds of a Night Fury flying past. Angered, it roared and spouted fire in every direction and Hiccup felt it get uncomfortably close.

_'You've thrown your lot in with them.' _

Then he saw a huge mace-like tail hit him off Toothless' saddle and Hiccup felt himself falling.

_'You're not a Viking.'_

He could see the desperation in Toothless' face as he turned mid-air realizing his rider was no longer on his back.

_'You're not my son.'_

The last thing he saw was Toothless, eyes wide, as he desperately reached for him before the world went black.

* * *

"Hiccup!" Astrid shook Hiccup desperately trying to wake him.

She had been in the process of landing Stormfly when she turned back to see him fall to the ground from his own saddle. Thankfully he had also landed so his fall wasn't as bad as it could've been. There was a small bump on his head but Astrid was more concerned with the fact that Hiccup was writhing on the ground as if he were in severe pain.

"Hiccup, come on wake up!" She yelled desperately, shaking him again.

She then ran over to Stormfly and reached into her saddlebag and pulled out her water container. She then splashed a small amount on Hiccup's face and he went still.

Astrid paused for a moment, hoping Hiccup would open his eyes but after a few seconds his eyes were still closed. Toothless whined and nudged Hiccups head in his own attempt to wake him but had just as much success as Astrid had.

Then, Astrid noticed Hiccups eyes began moving from underneath his lids. Slowly, they fluttered open.

* * *

After the blackness swallowed him, Hiccup thought that was the end for him. He felt dizzy after the onslaught of memories. He slowly recalled them, vividly remembering the heat of the flames and the shrieking roar of the large dragon. The Red Death. The Queen of the dragons. He could remember how hard it had been to fight it even though Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlout and the twins were all helping him with their own dragons. It had almost cost Hiccup, his and his dragon's life. He recalled feeling only scared for Toothless as he fell towards the Earth. He didn't care about himself as much as he should have. He knew people would mourn, Toothless especially. Hut overall; it wouldn't take much to fill the space he'd left he was so small. Gobber would get a new apprentice in the forge. Snotlout would become the heir to the tribe. Toothless would find a new rider.

Except, Hiccup realized, Toothless couldn't fly without Hiccup. He would never be able so save himself because Hiccup had crippled him.

If Toothless died, it would be Hiccups fault.

Pain and regret was all he could feel as the darkness continued to swirl around him. While he was glad he had met Toothless, he wished he hadn't shot him down, that he hadn't tried so hard to be a Viking, knowing he wasn't. His father had reminded him of this several times in his life.

His father.

Those words opened an old wound that Hiccup had thought was healed. When he was younger he knew his father wasn't overly proud of him. He still loved Hiccup but Stoick still tried to keep his son out of sight. He was a hindrance. After His accident, Hiccup thought they had been able to get over it. Even though he didn't remember how and why him and his father's relationship had changed, he had been told it happened when he defeated the Red Death. So what he had just remembered must be from before that. It still cut through Hiccup like a knife though.

_An old, blunt and rusty knife,_ he thought.

Suddenly, he felt a wet sensation spread over his face. Then something bumped his head. Slowly, Hiccup was pulled into consciousness.

He slowly blinked in an attempt to clear his blurred vision. He noticed he was lying on the ground on Dragon Island.

"Hiccup!" he heard Astrid sigh in relief as her face swam into his vision.

"What happened?" He grunted and tried to sit up despite his dizziness.

"I don't think you should get up just yet." She said as she put her hands on his shoulders to stop him from standing and also to steady him, "You collapsed and fell from Toothless and hit your head."

"Oh," he simply said as he saw Toothless' worried face just behind Astrid.

"Are you OK?" she asked tentatively, running he fingers lightly across the bump on his head.

"Yeah, I'm OK." Hiccup said and he staggered upright.

He held onto Astrid for a few seconds as he let the world stop spinning.

"We need to get you home," she said once he was able to stand by himself, "Are you alright to fly?"

"No, I don't need to go home now," he really didn't feel like heading back to Berk right now. Not with everything he just remembered. "I want to stay a bit longer."

He turned and climbed onto Toothless' saddle, and added with a grin "but we can still go for a flight."

With that, he nudged Toothless and they took off into the air, Astrid and Stormfly right behind them.

The cool air managed to clear Hiccups mind. He was able to think clearer.

His fathers feelings towards him before his battle on Dragon Island were long gone by now. He was sure, if the last week or so was anything to go by, his father was the proudest father on Berk. While he still worried endlessly about his son, Hiccup knew it had nothing to do with his incompetence. He was just being protective of his only son.

Despite this, those four words still made him sick to his stomach.

_You're not my son._

The most important question on Hiccup's mind was what had happened to make his father proud. Did he really mean it and Hiccup had shown he was a Viking by killing that dragon, or was it simply anger and frustration that lead Stoick to disown his son? Did he regret it at all?

Astrid watched Hiccup from behind. He seemed miles away, absorbed in his own thoughts. She knew he had remembered something, but wasn't entirely sure what. She assumed it had something to do with his battle with the Queen, but his expression suggested that there was something else bothering him.

After a few minutes, she couldn't take anymore and urged Stormfly forward to fly next to Toothless.

"Hiccup!" she called.

Hiccup snapped his head towards her.

She pointed towards the ground and yelled, "We need to talk!"

He sighed and drove Toothless back towards the ground.

When they landed, Astrid strode up to Hiccup just as he was dismounting Toothless.

What happened back there?" Astrid asked him, crossing her arms across her chest, "I know you remembered something, so what was it?"

"Nothing" he mumbled, "Just bits of fighting the Red Death."

"Besides that though," she said, moving her hands to her hips, "I know that's not the only thing you remembered."

He didn't really want to talk about it, but Hiccup knew Astrid wouldn't let up. She'd probably end up hitting him until he told her. She'd probably hit him anyway for not telling her right away.

"Fine," he sighed, "I remembered something that happened just after all of that stuff that happened in the arena before." He hoped she would be satisfied with that.

Who was he kidding? This was Astrid.

"And?" she said impatiently, her eyes widening dangerously.

"And, it was just a conversation I had with my father" Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck and continued, "you know, I tried to get him to let Toothless go but he wouldn't and he decided to go after the nest."

Astrid didn't doubt that Hiccup was telling her the truth. It was well known that he was a terrible liar. However, she also knew there was something else which was bothering him.

"Hiccup, I know there's more. You wouldn't be acting like this if that were really all that happened." She said sternly. Then her face softened, "Why wont you tell me?"

"I"- he paused, thinking. Was she even aware of what his father had said to him? He exhaled and decided to just tell her. Looking at the dirt, he said, "I remembered that…my dad, when I tried to stop him, he told me…I wasn't a Viking. That I wasn't his son."

He glanced up at Astrid to see how she reacted.

Her face was stony. Her eyes were wide with shock and disbelief. She knew Stoick had been angry at Hiccup when he left for Dragon Island, but she never would have thought the chief would disown his son.

"Astrid?" he said after a few seconds of her not responding.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked, coming back to her senses.

"I don't know. I don't remember anything else." He shrugged his shoulders, acting as if it still didn't affect him much.

An act she saw through immediately.

"Hiccup," she placed her hand on his shoulder, and then pulled him in for a hug, "you know your dad loves you don't you?" she pulled away, still holding his shoulders. He still refused to look at her and continued to stare at his feet, "It's different now between you both. He knows you're not going to be the kind of Viking he thought you were going to be, but you know what? He loves the Viking you are."

Her gripped tightened and he finally met her eyes. She could still see the pain in his green eyes, but now he seemed more hopeful.

"You manage to impress him everyday by doing things he never even thought were possible. You were able to shoot down and train a Night Fury!" she scoffed "You managed to overcome three hundred years of prejudice. You fought the Red Death and won!" she gestured towards the mountain where the gaping hole held testament to the battle that raged there, "He knows he was wrong to force you to become something you're not, and I know it's one of his biggest regrets. He loves you for you and nothing will change that."

A small smile crept onto his face as he let her words sink in. she was right of course. His father had accepted him for him. While he couldn't remember every detail now, Hiccup knew that things had changed for the better between them. It still hurt that his father had said what he did in in his anger, but to hear someone else say his father was proud of him made his spirits soar.

"Thanks Astrid" he said, "I just got a bit carried away with the memory." He wrapped his arms around her in a quick hug.

"No problem," she said returning the hug, "If I'm not here to knock some sense into you, who will?" she added with a laugh.

"I suppose Snotlout and the twins would be more than happy to hit me," he pulled away and shrugged, "but I'm not sure if they have enough sense between the three of them to knock any into me."

"Exactly!" Astrid said stepping away and sitting down against a boulder.

Hiccup joined her and there was comfortable pause between the two, during which the only sounds that could be heard were the waves lapping at the beach and the grumbling of the dragons behind them.

"You want to go back?" Astrid asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Yeah, OK" Hiccup replied and he pushed himself up from the ground, stretching his back as it had become stiff against the hard rock.

"Race you back to the village!" Astrid yelled as she lightly shoved him to the ground and ran to Stormfly, leaping quickly and gracefully onto her back and took off.

Hiccup took a few seconds to recover and said, "you're on!" he then, just as quick but not as gracefully, mounted Toothless and the pair took off after the retreating shape of the blue Nadder and her rider.

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**hey guys! thanks for you're support! again i'm really sorry this chapter took so long. i had about 4k words originally because the story just kept going! the next chapter is actually pretty much done so it wont take as long (a little pressie from me to you for your patience!)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys! I'm really sorry but my computer spazzed out and put in a heap of coding through the chapter, i had to go through it again and get rid of it so here's the un-jumbled version.**

**thanks for those of you who let me know!**

**PS. there may be some grammatical errors...sorry!**

**disclaimer: i don't own httyd**

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They raced back to Berk, both dragons flying as fast as they could. Toothless beat his wings furiously, Hiccup leaning close against his back to help him fly faster. Astrid and Stormfly led the way, with Hiccup and Toothless slowly closing the distance.

Just as the houses came into sharp focus, a sudden burst of speed, placed the Night Fury ahead by an inch and Hiccup turned to give Astrid a wry smile, as Toothless did the same to Stormfly.

This, however, was a mistake.

With both sets of eyes looking behind, neither saw that Toothless had begun to lose altitude and started to bear left.

Right into the side of the cliff.

"Hiccup! Look out!" Astrid called.

Hiccup looked forward and his eyes widened in horror as he saw that they were hurtling for the cliff face. He pulled hard for Toothless to go up. Toothless turned forward when he felt the tug and began shrieking as he tried to stop himself in time. In their panic, they failed to change course in time and, with a force that shook the entire cliff, they collided into the hard rock. Hiccup was unseated and Toothless began twisting to try to find him.

"Toothless!" Hiccups voice called to the dragon.

Toothless finally located him and reached out to curl around the boy just before they hit the water.

"Hiccup!" Astrid screamed as she watched they were swallowed by the water, "Toothless!"

She flew over where they had disappeared and searched frantically for them. Just as she was about to dive in, Toothless burst through, soaking her with water.

"Toothless! Where's-" she began but with another splash, Hiccup resurfaced laughing.

"Hahaha! Whoohoo!" Hiccup laughed and began swimming to shore with Toothless "lets emnot/em do that again. Hey Bud?"

Toothless grumbled in agreement.

"Hiccup you scared me!" Astrid yelled, landing Stormfly on the beach as he stumbled out of the water, "are you OK?"

"Yeah were fine," he said shaking his soaked hair out of his eyes.

"Good," she said, and immediately punched him, hard, in the shoulder, "em style="mso-bidi-font-style:  
normal, _"that's,_ for not looking where your going!"

"Ow!" Hiccup said as he grabbed his arm and something stirred in the back of his mind.

Astrid made a move to give him a small kiss on the cheek, but decided against it. She knew he didn't have all his memories and very little, so far, had contained any to do with her. She wasn't upset at him for it; she was just a bit disappointed. Astrid knew he couldn't control it, but there were some moments, like now, when she almost forgot that, according to him, they had never kissed.

"Hey, are you OK?" she asked when she saw his expression change. A small frown creasing his forehead.

"Wha-? Yeah! Yeah I'm fine." He rubbed his arm absentmindedly.

"You didn't get hurt? You hit the cliff pretty hard," she approached him, checking him over but only seeing small scratches and bruises.

"Yeah I'm fine," Toothless nudged his hand and Hiccup scratched him on the head.

"Come on, then, I'm starving, lets go eat." She said, hopping onto Stormfly again, waiting for Hiccup.

"You go on, I think I'm just going to hang here for a bit."

"Why?" she asked frowning slightly.

"I'm not that hungry, plus I don't thing Toothless is up for flying for a few minutes"

Said dragon looked at Hiccup confused. He felt fine.

"OK then, don't stay too long or your dad will sent out a rescue party for you." She laughed and took off.

Hiccup smiled at that. She was right. His father was known to overreact, especially when it came to his son.

He looked over at the water and watched the sun dip closer to the horizon.

Hiccup sat down, wrapping his arms around his knees, his mind occupied. Toothless grunted laid himself down beside his rider. He looked worriedly at the quiet boy next to him. There was clearly something bothering him. Toothless wasn't sure what, but he knew when Hiccup got worried. He nudged Hiccups arm to get his attention.

"Hey Bud," Hiccup said quietly and began scratching Toothless behind his ears.

Thinking hard, he tried to figure out what the nagging feeling he had from when Astrid had punched him was from. It didn't feel right. Like there was something else that was supposed to have happened. He closed his eyes to help him concentrate.

a steady headache came on suddenly and an image of Astrid swirled behind his lids.

_'That's for the lies!' she said as she aimed a kick into his side. She held her axe, handle down, above his stomach, 'and _that's_,' she let the axe go, catching it as it bounced back off his gut, ' for everything else.'_

_He gasped as he felt the wind get knocked out of him._

Hiccup gripped his head as the images continued

_'That's for kidnapping me!' Astrid said as she hit his shoulder, she paused and brushed her hair out of her eyes. She then grabbed his vest, causing him to flinch, waiting for her to hit him again. But it never came. Instead she gave him a swift peck on the cheek and said quietly, 'that's for…everything else,' she then let him go and ran off._

Hiccup's head was now throbbing painfully, causing him to hiss and fall back onto the ground waiting for the episode to end.

_They both stood in the empty arena. Astrid surprised Hiccup by pulling him in suddenly for a kiss._

Toothless began nudging Hiccup, cooing out of worry for his rider.

_They were both in the great hall, which was decorated for Snoggletog and full of other Vikings and dragons. Astrid grabbed is face and kissed him before hugging him close._

"I'm alright bud, just give me a minute" Hiccup tried to comfort his dragon through gritted teeth.

_Astrid approached Hiccup, as he stood surrounded by a crowd of Vikings. She then proceeded to punch his arm._

_'That's for scaring me!'_

_'Is it always going to be this way?' Hiccup rubbed his arm, trying to get feeling back into it._

_She then tugged him by his tunic and pressed her lips to his._

_'I could get used to it.' Hiccup mumbled as Astrid pulled away from the kiss._

When the onslaught finally receded, Hiccup opened his eyes and was greeted by Toothless' bright green eyes.

"That was…interesting," he said, patting the worried Night Fury's head.

It wasn't that he didn't believe everyone when they had told him, he and Astrid were somewhat together, it just that, without his memories, it seemed too far-fetched and he didn't want to get his hopes up. Now that he remembered, Hiccup thought back to the last week.

She hadn't been overly affectionate to him, which was completely normal for Astrid, but every now and then, he would see her move slightly in a way that looked like she was about to hug him but thought better of it. Initially, Hiccup passed it off as simply being a friendly gesture, but now, he realized, she had to have been trying to not freak him out anymore than was needed.

"Come on bud, lets go, I need to talk to Astrid," Hiccup grunted as he heaved himself up from the ground, using Toothless as an anchor.

He climbed on the saddle and after his prosthetic was in place, they both took to the air.

The sun was only just peeking back over the horizon as they flew over the village and landed in front of the chief's house.

Jumping off Toothless, Hiccup looked around trying to find any sign of Astrid or Stormfly.

"There you are Hiccup!"

Hiccup turned around as his father exited the house, shutting the door behind him.

"Hi dad," Hiccup said with a wave, turning to his father, "Um, have you seen Astrid anywhere? I need to talk to her."

"I sent her and the other teens to get their dragons ready to leave in the morning." He said, "reports of foreign ships have come in and I want them to investigate it."

"OK, so she must be at her house, Thanks dad!" Hiccup turned in the direction of Astrid's house but Stoick's loud voice stopped him.

"I want to talk to you for a minute, son." Stoick put his hand on Hiccup's shoulder and steered him towards the house.

"What about?" Hiccup asked, glancing back to Toothless who followed the pair inside.

"You're not in trouble if that's what you're worried about," Stoick said with a chuckle when he saw the worried look on his sons face, "I just want to see how you're doing. Have any more memories come back?"

They both sat down on opposite sides of the fire, which was crackling merrily, warming the house against the crisp, cold air outside. Toothless curled up in the corner and began dozing, peacefully.

"Uh, well, yeah, I have in fact," Hiccup said, remembering the events of earlier in the day. Suddenly, the room felt a lot colder to him, as if the fire had stopped giving off its heat, he rubbed the back of his neck and avoided his father's eyes by gazing into the hearth. In a small voice he said, "I, uh, remember fighting the Red Death, and…everything that happened…just before."

He trailed off hoping his father hadn't noticed what he was getting at and would move on without asking questions. Stoick, however, had a habit of doing exactly what Hiccup didn't want him to do.

"What do you mean 'just before'?" he asked. That whole day had been a blur for Stoick and so he couldn't recall everything that had happened, "Getting the dragons and the others ready you mean?"

"No, it was actually the, er, _conversation_ we had before you left" Hiccup felt as if his heart was thumping in his throat. He tried to swallow but it wouldn't go away. He glanced up at his father and felt the lump get bigger.

"Hiccup."

The fire cast Stoick's face mostly in shadow, but Hiccup could see clearly, the pain in his father's eyes. He tried to say something to alleviate his memory of that day, but nothing came out.

"Hiccup," he repeated softly, "I'm so, so sorry. I was a fool. Too consumed by the possibility of becoming the chief that killed all the dragons, I forgot about you. I was wrong. If it weren't for you, I would have lead the entire village to their deaths that day."

"It's OK dad," Hiccup said in a small voice, "it was an overwhelming day for both of us. I know you never meant it."

"But there's no excuse. I should never have said it to begin with," Stoick said. He stood up and approached Hiccup, placing a comforting hand on his son's shoulder. Hiccup looked up at his father. "There's nothing I regret more that what I did that day."

"Thanks dad. I know and I'm sorry I let you down for all those years." Hiccup said looking back down into his lap.

"Let me down?" Stoick asked, "son, you may not have been the kind of Viking I expected, but it was me who let you down. I was the one who tried to make you fit in when you clearly didn't. You've never let me down. Especially not now. You've made me the proudest chief and father in the Archipelago."

Hiccup simply smiled. It felt odd to hear his father be this open and comforting. Usually, he left Hiccup to deal with his emotions by himself. Early on in his childhood, Hiccup had learnt to comfort himself. He never had a mother who would wrap her arms around him and his father was…_stoic._

As a young child, Hiccup had been scared of the dark. His father had decided to give him an axe, which was almost bigger than he was, as a way of comforting him. Needless to say it didn't help much.

As he grew older, Hiccup avoided mentioning his fears or concerns to his father and often retreated to the forge to distract himself from whatever was worrying him. Every raid, he tried time and time again to prove that he was a Viking worth his father's time. One that he could be proud of.

"now, i want to talk to you about that ship i mentioned before," said Stoick turning back to the fire.

"What kind of ship?" Hiccup asked.

"It doesn't look like a fishing boat, and i don't think it's from a tribe near Berk" Stoick replied, "I want you to promise me you won't follow the others out there."

"What? Why can't I go?" complained Hiccup.

"Because in your state, things could go wrong."

"In my state?" Hiccup asked incredulous, "I'm fine dad!"

"No your not, I'm fine with you flying around with your friends around Berk, but I don't want to risk something going wrong while you're flying." Hiccup was about to complain but Stoick raised a hand to stop him, and continued, "If the boat is hostile, you're not up to fighting yet. I don't want something to happen and you end up fainting over the ocean."

As much as he wanted to argue, Hiccup knew that falling off Toothless because of another episode was a high possibility, but he still didn't want to get let behind because he was seen as an invalid.

"Come on dad," Hiccup tried to think of how to change his father's mind which would be a mean feat, "what if I hung back until the others decided if the boats safe or not? And if it's not, I'll back off."

"I'm sorry son," Stoick sat down across the fire from Hiccup, "maybe next time."

A few minutes passed where neither spoke. Hiccup mulling over ideas and ways to convince his father to let him out.

"Well, it getting late," Stoick said after a few minutes, getting to his feet, "you'd better be off to bed son, I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight dad." Said Hiccup.

He climbed the stairs as his father placed a large log on the fire and headed outside.

He ran up to his room and looked outside. Hiccup could see his father walking off towards the forge, no doubt to talk with Gobber. Hiccup ran back downstairs waking Toothless in the process.

"Come on bud, let go!" he said as he ran to the door.

Toothless got to his feet and followed Hiccup outside. They headed towards Astrid's house where they found her near Stormfly's shed, feeding her chicken.

"Hey Astrid," Hiccup said.

"Hiccup?" Astrid turned around, "what are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to get out of the house," he said with a shrug.

"But you've been out of your house all day," she pointed out, then her eyes narrowed, "what's going on?"

"What? Nothing!" he said a bit too quickly.

"What aren't you telling me Hiccup?" Astrid stepped closer to Hiccup, causing Hiccup to shrink under her stern look, "Are you doing something behind your father's back again?"

"No!" he said and her glare intensified, "maybe."

"Hiccup," she warned.

"OK, fine! I don't see why I can't go with you all tomorrow." He said exasperated, "It's not like I'm terrified of dragons anymore. I can fly and besides, you five will be there, nothing will happen."

"But on the off chance it did," she said, "I just would prefer you to stay here."

"Yeah, but I'm not that delicate. Wait," Hiccup realised what she had said, "did you give my dad this idea?"

Suddenly, Astrid's expression changed from anger to nervousness and she began to fidget sheepishly.

"I might have, you know, mentioned that you, well, fell." She said guiltily.

"You told him? Why?"

"Because I want you to be safe Hiccup!" she said earnestly, "and I won't say I'm sorry because I'm not. You could get hurt."

She crossed her arms defensively, and glared, daring Hiccup to argue.

He decided to not push her anymore and changed the subject slightly.

"Fine, so, what are you all planning to do?" he asked in a flat tone.

Satisfied he wouldn't argue, Astrid perked up and answered, "we're just going to see who's on the boat. If they're friendly, we'll see if they need help, if not, we'll drive them off."

"When are you leaving?" Hiccup asked, causing her to narrow her eyes again suspiciously.

"First light," she said slowly.

He nodded and looked back at Toothless who was gazing out at the ocean.

"My dad should be heading back now," he said, "and he doesn't know I'm out, I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, bye," there was an awkward pause before they both turned back to their dragons. Hiccup led Toothless back to his house. They entered the house to find it empty. They both climbed the stairs and Toothless walked over and warmed up his bed before lying down and quickly falling asleep. Hiccup followed suit and let his head fall onto his own pillow.

Hiccup was only in his bed for a short while before he heard the thudding of his father' footsteps at the front door. Hiccup listened as Stoick bustled around downstairs for a few minutes before stopping. Hiccup assumed he had gone to bed himself.

He lay awake for a long time after that. He wished people would stop treating him as if he were some fragile baby who needed help all the time. Before, most people would have simply brushed him off, used to him always messing things up. Now however, he had shown the entire village what he was capable of and anything less than his best, caused people to panic and fuss over him.

Just because he couldn't remember everything that had happened over the last year or so, didn't mean that he was incapable of looking after himself.

As he drifted off to sleep, he decided he needed to have a break. Just him and Toothless. While the others were out dealing with the boat, they'd be able to spend the day, doing whatever they felt like.

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**Thanks for reading everyone! the next chapter is where it all starts to build up. unfortunately, Hiccup is prone to accidents and this story is clearly not and exception. I kind of feel bad, but not really.**

**Please read and review, i love feedback! tell me where you think the story is heading. let m know where you'd like it to head. Anything!**


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